Silent Years
by wawa66131
Summary: The relationship Vincent and catherine not work after a long time without Being, They turn to see the faces, but Vincent is not the same as before ...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Catherine was lying in her bed, lost in her thoughts.

Her life had been full of tragedy; her mother's murder, Vincent, who safed her life more times than she could count, until finally both of them gave in to have the relationship they wanted but were afraid of.

One would expect a happy ever after until Vincent was kidnapped, his memory, his personality erased.

He wasn't the same man she fell in love with, she thought it wouldn't matter for only she was with him but this was painfully wrong.

She just didn't have the power to bring him back.

Never did she have the desire to mentally go back to the events of this day 5 years ago, but the same thoughts would hunt her down over and over again.

Everyone who knew her was aware of Vincents betrayal, of the lies he told her. Only Cat was too blind to see it, until she couldn't hide the marks he left on her heart anymore.

5 years ago

Cat and Tess were given a day off, no case to solve, no murderer to catch.

The plan had been to surprise Vincent at work.

Revealing his identity, his past to the world opened new doors for him. The future they had dreamed of started to form right in front of them.

With two cups of coffee and his favourite sandwich she walked through the long hallways of the hospital on her way to his office.

She always looked forward to seeing him because no matter what happened between them, when she was with him she felt save.

Before she entered she knocked once, though he probably already knew that she was standing at his door.

But never would she have expected that scene she witnessed when she opened the door.

Seeing that redhead on his lap, seeing how passionately he kissed her made something snap inside of her.

She was supposed to be the one who captured his senses, who made him forget about everything around them,to make him let down his guard.

The cups slipped through her fingers and she stood still, starting at him. "No! This is a joke, right? " She whispered. He stared back at her and when she couldn't find the hint of an apology, of regre the hint of an apology, she turned on her heels and run away.

Never did she expect that his promises, his proposal were fake. She was too shocked to cry when she drove all the way back to his boat house.

No matter what he would tell her: she knew that she had to leave him, for the sake of her sanity.

She had packed her stuff in less than 15 minutes but she allowed herself to lay down on their bed one last time to cry for everything she just lost.

"Catherine!" His voice was harsh, but he came back for her to find her crying.

He sat down on the bed but didn't dare touching her.

She tried to get away from him and he knew that there was no turning back for them.

"How long have you been seeing her? "

Cat knew that the answer would only make her suffer more but it didn't matter anymore.

"2 weeks, maybe 3."

"Ok!" Was the only thing she could reply, she didn't have the strength for more.

She got up from the bed and he followed her down the stairs, waiting for her next move. The engagement ring burned on her finger, she pulled it down and left it on the counter before she took her suitcase and left without a word.

This scene hunted her even years later but when the door of the boathouse closed in her dream,she would always wake up.

Catherine turned around and snuggled closer into Noahs strong arms.

"A penny for your thoughts? " he whispered.

Through the open curtains the sun streamed in and warmed their n*** bodies under the white sheets.

"It would take a lifetime to tell my story ..." she murmured and kissed him passionately to change the topic.

Why was it so hard for her to let him go?

"I could get used to this, you know? Waking up next to you!"

Playfully she pushed him back down and climbed on top of him.

"Oh no, Cat! You know that I'd like to stay her, with you. But- I have to go to work! "

He gave her one last kiss before he got up and smiled when he saw her pouting.

She stayed in bed till Noah was gone before she got up and prepared breakfast.

Noah had left the newspaper behind and over pancakes and coffee she scanned through the headlines, until one familiar name caught her eye.

**Hi guys, this is a new fanfic, hope you like it and please leave a review I appreciate all your comments. I continue? This story will be updated soon xx. Please review**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Silent years

She had to read it over and over again to make sure that she got the headline right.

´Warhero Vincent Keller will marry Erica Baars´

At first she couldn´t exactly detect what she felt, she was surprised, maybe even shocked.

Somehow she felt like her affection for the news wasn´t fair to Noah, not at all but Vincent was going to get married, and not with her.

´´5 years after recovering from amnesia, Vincent Keller finally found the woman he want´s to spend the rest of his life with. On sunday the coupple will start their journey of marriage in a private cerimony while rumour has it that the party will take place at Time Warner Center.

– The great question is: will Catherine Chandler be invited? His former long time partner during his recovery process was spotted in Paris with star architekt Noah Fox last week.- ´´

The article hadn´t made it to the front page but was printed on the 3rd one, pictures of Vincent and Erica and a smaller snap shot of her and Noah in the corner.

Before she read that article, Catherine had managed to succesfully stay away from any ´Vincent- related´news.

No doubt, Erica was beautiful, long blond hair, blue eyes, but she wore too much lipstick and her choice of clothes was questionable in Catherines eyes. This woman didn´t quite look like she was his type after all the beautiful red- haired girls he was with in the past but how much did she know about him after all those years?

Only once did she read the article itself, shallow stuff about his relationship with the bride-to-be, once did they mention her, the fact that they had successfully moved on.

But she still remembered the moment when they first met, the way he looked at her, the way he changed her life, first to the better, than to the worst.

The car she had belonged to Vincent and she wanted to leave everything behind that was connected to him. She walked away from the harbour and tried to find a taxi to get back to her appartment, the place she never realy left behind, even when she moved in with him.

A taxi stopped though it was already occupied by another passenger, only later should she find out who he was. Silently she stared out of the window into the cold night, watching the streetlights passing by. Oh, she wanted to cry again, cry for him, her past and her future. But she knew that feeling only too well, her relationship with Vincent had never been easy, she had cried when Vincent was taken from her and she had cried when she shot him. Losing him to an outside force, to the people who had constantly tried to keep them apart was tragic but losing him like this? This was just stupid.

The taxi stopped in front of her apartement and this time she left it with the stranger.

She had barely talked to him during the ride home, she would answer monosylabically until he realized that she wasn´t in the mood for talking.

Noah Fox had only moved in, he was an aspiring architekt form europe, that much she got and she had to admit that he looked a little like the guys she would date before she met Vincent.

She didn´t expect to ever find another silver box on her windowsill and she supressed the urge to search for him outside the window.

But her full attention snapped to her rining cell phone.

„Tess, hey!" she answered the phone while making coffee for work.

„Hey Cat, turn on the TV, they show something you might wanna see."

Cat just wanted to ask for the channel but basically every local and few of the national channels were showing the good news, „War hero and his bride-to-be".

„I swear, Cat: the next time I get to see him, I´m gonna kick his a**!"

„When did that happen, when did he become famous to be on the news"

They showed several short scenes of Vincent on various red carpets and no matter how hard Cat tried, she couldn´t find her Vincent, the old Vincent in those pictures.

Maybe it was just that she had never really spend time with him in public, he smiled, he was free, no one was hunting him.

„Cat? - Cat! Are you still here?" for a short, precious moment Cats mind had traveled back in time to all those beautiful moments she once shared with Vincent, completely oblivious of her friend on the phone.

„... uhm, yeah, still here...! Yeah, I´ll definitely kick his a** the moment I get to see him again!"

she chuckled and Tess couldn´t hold back from laughing out loud.

When Alex once left their lives for good, she had said that sometimes in life you outgrow relationships that you expected to have forever. Only this time it was Cat who had outgrown Vincent even though she thought that this was never going to happen, back then.

„Good luck with that! But JT is going to kill me if I don´t bring you to our family dinner, Brian want´s to see you again, too! When can I pick you up?"

„Well, thanks for leaving me a choice! How abaout 6:30?"

Tess wouldn´t let her bail from this event so she better surrendered anyway.

She ended the call and the little silver parcel caught her eye again, she went over to the kitchen island to open it.

His handwriting was still the same. He only adressed her with her name, how would you greet someone who´s heart you broke 5 yours ago: hey, hello, or even dear?

´Catherine

I wanted to give this to you for quite a while now. When you left, you left some things behind and I thought that you might wanted to have them back. I know that my timing sucks, and I´m sorry for that, but we have moved on and I shouldn´t have these things anymore. V.´

We have moved on … was he even aware of the irony in his timing?

And he had absolutely no right to contact her, not now, not ever and certainly not for this reason.

Was he stupid or brave to send her this?

All the memories: her old watch was in the box, she knew that she had left it at Vincents but back than she wouldn´t go back for a stupid watch. She never knew how many pictures of them existed besides the ones from her dad´s wedding but finding them in there surprised her. He had even collected the old notes she had sent him and some of them that she had left behind at his place. In the very bottom of the box she found the top of her flanel pyjama, his birthday present for her.

She thought that when he saw Evan kissing her, the fact that he didn´t feel worthy would make it hard to establish a working relationship, all those obstacles, that stood between them. But in the end they had overcome them all, exept one.

Those things had to go, he had to go, leave her mind, her thoughts. She grabbed everything he had sent and threw it into the bin.

„We have moved on!"

**Hey guys, Thanks so much for your wonderful. Do you like it? How to believe that this act vincent? How can an idiot? Please review, Tell me what you think. Thank you very much Thisisjulchen. **

**This is Noah, Mariano Di Vaio. wp-content/uploads/2013/02/DSC_ **

**This is Erika, Candice. **

** . **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
Silent years

"Cat, we'll be late" - Tess said, leaning against the doorframe. She wore a stunning dark red dress that covered half her thighs.  
"Coming!" Cat yelled through her appartment while putting her heels on, that were matching her white cocktail dress with cut outs.  
"Oh my good, Cat! You look HOT" Tess chuckled and handed a full glass of campagne.  
„Well, thank you Tess! You look pretty, too!" Cat joked back and both women left the appartment, looking forward to the evening.

„Family dinner, huh?" Cat asked annoyed when they entered the huge appartment and all her suspicions regarding the party came true. She could at least count twenty people in the room that was rather a gallery than a living room with it´s high ceiling, the modern concrete walls and colourful paintings.  
„If I told you what it was, would you be here right now?"  
Cat rolled her eyes at Tess.  
„Drinks?" Tess grabbed Cat on her arm, who had stared at the back of a tall blonde in a tight green dress, who looked strangely familliar, and dragged her to the bar in the kitchen.  
Cat tried hard to get that nagging feeling out of her chest but couldn´t help feel like she was beeing watched over. She grabbed a glass of champagne and turned around to take a look over the people in the room.  
Her detective instinct was right, she realized that when she looked direktly into a pair of familiar eyes, staring back at her.  
In that moment everything around her stopped, the music, the chatter...  
She only felt those eyes staring at her.  
The next second she turned around and looked away as quick as he did.  
The pace of her racing heart was alarming and she was affraid that she would get a heart attack any second.

Tess didn´t even realize what had happened right in front of her.  
6 years had passed since she talked to him the last time and even though JT and Tess were as close as never before, she allways managed to avoid meeting him. After JT had found out what his best friend had done to Catherine, their relationship became weaker and when his lifestyle changed, they never really got that close again.  
Though no one of them would ever talk about it, all of them had changed over time and especially Cat had managed to let go of the demons of her past.  
When Cat felt a hand on her shoulder her heartbeat sped up even more and relief flooded over her when she turned to see a concerned Tess standing next to her.  
„Cat! Are you ok? You look like you just saw a ghost!"  
„I .. I´m fine!" she stumbled.  
„Are you sure? Look, I´ll go talk to Brian for a minute, ok?"  
„Mhh...!" Was everything Cat could say before Tess left her side.  
She grabbed another drink and took a gulp before she turned to scan the room again but couldn´t find Vincent this time.

While in all those years she was convinced that she had successfully moved on, now she felt the pain again, the betrail and she hated herself for it.

"Catherine, it´s a pleasure to see you again" to hear his voice made her shiver and wince.  
It sounded just like she remembered. She took a deep breath to calm herself a little and turned to him, trying to look anything but like she just saw frankensteins monster.

He looked just like in the pictures she saw. His hair was pretty short now and he wore a tux.  
She couldn´t help but wonder about his formal tone.  
„Vincent, you are here!" The words left her mouth before she could controll them.  
„Mind if we talk for a minute?" he asked and laid his hand onto her lower back to lead her further away from the bar, into a queit corner.  
„Don´t!" she said sharply and stepped out of his touch.  
„You want to talk?"she asked and quickly got her composure back.

„Catherine! Jeez! Calm down!" he frowned when he senced how worked up she was.  
„Don´t tell me what to do!" she replied in a stern tone.  
„Ok, you clearly aren´t in the mood for talking." Vincent observed dryly.  
„In the mood? We have nothing to talk about! If I was interessted in your life, I would google you!  
Let me alone!"  
In that moment she felt a hand around her waist and found Noah next to her.

"Hey baby, what's wrong?" Noah asked, looking from Vincent to Catherine.  
"Nothing! Vincent was just saying hello!"  
"I'm Catherine's boyfriend." The men shook each others hand and eyed each other suspiciously.  
Vincent just nodded dryly.  
Noahs arm posessively layed around Catherines waist and softly but firmly dragged her away from Vincent.´without further words.  
She could only hear that he drew in a sharp breath but wasn´t going to waste anymore time on him.  
„Can I have that dance?" Noah asked when they reached the dancefloor.  
Catherine smiled in relief and welcomed the chance to avoid thinking about Vincent for a minure.  
The party was in full swingand one could catwar hero and his fiancé dancing and kissing ocassionally.  
„I love you, Cat! I have to tell you something... -"  
„What is it, honey?" Cat asked curiously. In that moment the song had ended and before the next one could start, Vincent approached the couple.  
„May I have a dance?" Vincent asked consciously.

But befor Catherine could even say a word, Noah jumped in into the conversation.  
„She doesn´t want to dance with you! Who do you think you are, showing up here after everythinng you´ve put her through?"  
Vincent took a step back and his face showed an expression mixing amusement and confusion.  
Cat and Vincent were well aware of the fact that she meight as well defend herself.

„I´m not talking to you, I was asking Catherine!" Vincents voice towards Noah was cold enouth to cool down the temperature in the room.

„You heard him. I won´t dance with you! Get yourself another partner."  
„Catherine...!" Vincent sighted. „Can I please talk to you for a minute?" This time his voice was literally urging her but Noah didn´td look like he was going to back down so soon.  
„I have to talk to Tess, if you´ll excuse me!" and with those words she left both men behind.

**Hi guys, this is the chapter 3. I think you were hoping VINCat to meet, I think this chapter is one of the best chapters. I hope you liked this chapter. Please review. Tell me what you think of this chapter. Do you like it? What do you think vincent is doing well? I think not. What do you think?**


	4. Chapter 4

She walked around in the small gallery, searching for Tess and found her talking to her brother.

Finally she admitted to herself how shaken she was after meeting Vincent again, that she could barely stand being around him at the moment.

„Oh my god, Cat, what … ?" Tess hugged her closely, rarely had she seen her best friend in such a condition before.

„He is here!" her voice was hoarse and fragile

„Honey?" Noah appeared behind them.

„Cat, I didn´t know that we would come!"

„Tess, I´m sorry but I have to go! I can´t stand being around him!"

„Will you come with me?" she added towards Noah, who just laid his arm around her for support, before they headed home.

…...

Time could heal wounds but a scar would always stay behind; when Cat shot up in her bed, covered in sweat she realised that she wouldn´t find a way out of this emotional rollercoaster so easily.

Those scenes, dreams long forgotten, reapperared and she was powerless, a visitor in her own head.

Noah slept next to her, oblivious to her misery.

He wouldn´t help her, he couldn´t! He would ever understand what she went through and she didn´t even want him to. This was private, a thing between Vincent and her.

„Catherine... !" he mumbled and slowly opened his eyes.

„Good morning, beautiful! Feeling better?"

„Sure. Had just been a long day!" she convinced him before he sat up to kiss her.

Right when things became heated his phone rang.

He gave his best to concentrate on the call but with Catherine teasing him, this was easier said than done.

She kissed her way down his neck, letting her hand roam down his chest rather to distract herself than him.

„I … will be there, … give me … 20!" he quickly ended the call, pushed Catherine back against the

mattress and hovered over her.

„Witch!" he whispered into her ear. „I would love to stay in bed with you all day, but that was work. I have to go!" She pouted in frustration, but he simply smiled and started to get dressed.

„Speaking of work, there is something I wanted to ask you yesterday. I have a meeting in Miami next week and I was wondering whether you would enjoy joining me... you could use a break from all of that!"

„Miami, huh? Tthat sounds promissing but you know my boss. No chance to get a break there. „

„About that? I talked to him right after I got the call yesterday! You are free to go!"

„You did what? Wow, that is... unexpected. Thank you!" she didn´t like that he would talk about her behind her back but of coarse he only ment to surprise her.

Catherine just couldn´t help it: right after Noah left, she made herself a cup of coffee and looked Erika up online.

That woman even had her own Wikipedia article, Cat noticed bitterly.

…...

´Like what you see?´Vincent asked after he left the bed n***, crossed the room to get some boxer briefs form the drawer.

She just smiled and continued drying her hair with a towel.

They had just laid in bed, him holding her, enjoing the time they had together.

The night before he had asked her to become his wife, now she played with the ring on her finger.

´You don´t think differently about it now, do you?´he asked carefully.

´Because if you aren´t sure...!´

´Why would I change my mind about that? Vincent, I´m all in for that! I love you!´

´I love you too, Catherine! Speaking of weddings, JT´s gonna make that move on Tess too.´

´Oh my god, that is amazing! Tess will be thrilled! You know, when he was in the hospital, she was so worried about him. I really think that this put things into perspective for them.´

´Forget about JT! All I care about right now, are you, Mrs Catherine Keller!´

She moaned when he kissed her:´Say that again.´she demanded...

…...

A noise at the door woke her from her daydream and for a second she expected it to be Noah, though of coarse he had a key.

Then she opened the door.

**Hey guys, I'm sorry for having gone so late this chapter. This chapter is short, I did not have time to write much've been busy preparandone for exams. Sorry. The next chapter will be longer. Who do you think of this chapter? What knocked on the door? Please review with your opinion!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Catherine didn´t know how to react, did not know what to do, she was just surprised to see him at her door, looking at her with so much intensity in his eyes, making her nervous. She wanted to pinch her arm to see if this was true because she didn´t believe it.

But he was there himself, Vincent Keller, and he stood at her door, staring back at her in silence.

For a second, after she had opened the door, he was convinced that all of this was a mistake: coming here would only make this situation between them worse, more complicated than it had to be. „Catherine..." his heartbeat mirrored hers, quick yet unsteady, making him feel as if his chest was about to explode. He thought that listenign to her heartbeat would help him to calm himself down but he became more nervous than ever.

„Vincent, what are you doing here?" half of her hated him but the other half was still madly in love with him after all those years.

„We need to talk, are you alone?"

„I´m not! Vincent, you need to go and please dont come back!" firmly she tried to close the door in front of him but he put his foot in to stop her from pushing him away like that.

„Come on, Cat! I´ve seen Noah leaving on my way in! Stop lying! If you don´t want me here, tell me and I´ll leave."

„You have five minutes." she opened the door to let him in and he followed her into the living room.

He looked around and a huge bouquet of roses on the counter made him think about all of that.

„He really … loves you!" he stated and in his voice she couldn´t detect any sarcasm or bitterness.

„He does!" she answered and being here with him suddently wasn´t scary but just like talking to an old friend, who knew you better that most people but still had moved on with his own life.

„But you didn´t come here to tell me that?!"

„I came to appologize!" She was about to interrupt him but he wanted to say what he came for.

„No, listen Cat! I mean it! And I kind of figured that we will propably see each other more often. I really don´t want this to be awkward all the time between us, you know?"

„You mean with all the wedding stuff and that our best friends are about to get maried, too?" she laughed silently, not because he was right but because she didn´t want her past to ruin her friends future.

Her decicion would define their future too and she was well aware of that. „Thank you! Thank you for coming here, for apologizing! That means a lot to me."

They sat in silence, finally comfortable around each other, time hadn´t change their compatibility.

„Does she know?" she suddently asked. Ever since she had found out about his past, that time she hadn´t been part of, she wanted to know.

He looked up at her, surprised about the question, caught off guard. „She doesn´t!"

„So you will spend your life - „

„With someone who doesn´t accept all of who I am? Yeah, right, I remember our discussion about Alex! You know, JT keeps searching for – let´s call it ´solutions´! Things have changed! My DNA has changed, which is why things are easier now! You allways said that this was a part of me and you were right. But all of us have things we don´t want to share and that part of me, it becomes smaller with every day."

He waited for her reaction, patient to find out how she would deal with the news.

She picked her words carefully: „ You had to make that choice and if it works out for you..."

„Yes, things have changed and for once I´m good with it the way it is right now."

They had said everything that had to be said and Catherine got up to fix tea. Tess had tried to call her several times in the past hour and while she aimed to call her back she stumbled across the carpet in the process.

She managed to catch herself with her arms and slided down the wall.

„Are you ok?" Vincent got up to help her, just when she started laughing uncontrollably about her own fail of coordination and after Vincent was sure that she was ok, he joined her laugher.

"Dont laugh!" she protested. „Remember when you slipped in the boat house after I cleaned the floor? That move was could have made a perfect appearance in an action movie!"

„Or a comedy!" he answerd, coming from the kitchen with a glass of water.

„Are you ok?" he asked again and she couldn´t help but coment on his concern:"Playing the doctor, are you?"

„Yes, practicing medicine again, it has changed me, if that is what you are trying to say!" But he couldn´t elaborate that thought further.

„Vincent... something is wrong..." was all she managed to say before everything went dark around her.

**Hey guys, I enjoyed a lot writing this chapter.¿What do you think Vincent attitude ?, So think about this chapter ?, tell me what you think of this chapter. Please review. Thank you dear, Julchen.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Vincent picked her up carefully – she felt smaller, more fragile than he remembered – and laid her down on the couch.

He would have to wait until she woke up, with him around – being a beast and a doctor – she was safer as if he called the ambulance.

A fresh bottle of water rested on the coffee table, ready if she needed it, and he sat down, focussing on her heartbeat.

The moment the clouds in her mind started to disappear, Catherine shot up into a sitting position:

„Vincent? What... what happened to me?" He hadn´t expect her to wake up with such power and she quickly leaned back when she realised how close he sat next to her, being clearly uncomfortable.

His joking mood was long gone and he observed her closely, worry in his eyes.

„When was the last time you ate something? You look pale and you´ve lost weight!" he analysed.

„Well, thank you for that compliment..."

„Catherine, I mean it!"

„I... had a salad, ...for lunch,... yesterday..." she hesitated.

„You know, I don´t have time to eat, and appetite neither." she answerd his scolding look with annoyance.

His phone interrupted the conversation that didn´t quite go as planned anyway.

„Phone..." he excused himself and stood up.

„Yes,... sure, … I´ll ask him if we can..., yes... ok, me too..."

He turned back, looking uncofortable in his skin.

„Uugh, the wedding! Never knew one could possibly spend so much time planning a single day..."

and for the first time since he had showed up she took a closer look at him – suddenly he looked as if he hadn´t slept in days.

„Wedding angst? Didn´t know that about you..." she joked.

„But I guess things have changed, we have changed and this is none of my business anymore.

It feels good to know that both of us have successfully moved on, you know?

She kept talking but he didn´t really listen, for a minute he tried to imagine how Catherine would react in that situation and secretly he knew that with her, things would have been simple. Not ´average-boring-simple´ but beautiful. That´s who she was and that would have shown in the style of their wedding as well, if only –

„Vincent, do you even listen? I have to go, Tess is probably waiting already."

„Sure. Oh, and Catherine? – take care!" he added before he left her apartment through the front door.

Those last words moved her more than she expected. ´Take care...´ she leaned against the door and all the emotions came crashing back again.

„Oh, Vincent, I love you so much!" she couldn´t help it, he was still a part of her.

And he heard her, his super senses didn´t betray him.

„Oh Catherine, I love you too."

2 weeks later

Vincent took a week off for a trip to Miami, Erika would have an editorial shooting on the beach and hoped that maybe she would get to spend some quality time with her future husband.

But he himself could only think of Catherine.

He spend time waiting for his fiancé, sunbathing on the beach, all tanned skin and muscles- arousing women´s attention and men´s envy.

´Catherine...´ his thoughts drifted away.

Everything used to be so clear, structured and he knew what he wanted, until now.

The years brought back his memory and slowly he changed. The past defined who he was and when he remembered it, he missed his old self.

For a while he hadn´t paid attention to the people around him but when he felt a pair of eyes resting on him, he looked up:

"Vincent!"

"Catherine?"

**Hey guys, please review. Discuss who find it Do What do you think? What will happen? Will update this week! Thanks xx thisisjulchen.**


	7. Chapter 7

He didn´t expect to meat Catherine here in Miami. He stared at her in surprise for a moment, leaned back in his chair and tried to process the sight in front of him. She wore a bikini in blue and dark green with black edges and looked absolutely stunning in it. Her sheer presence dumbfounded him and he was aware that he was ogling her but couldn´t help it.

When he looked up into her eyes he saw her determination, the way she stood in front of him, arms crossed over her chest, not quite amused to see him.

„What are you doing here?" - She asked dryly. She had been on the beach for half an hour and no sign of Erika, but Vincent was always on her mind. Meeting him was something else, though.

„I took a week off for one of Erikas jobs, but... what are you doing here?"

„Manuel got work to do here and I … decided to take a week off ….!" now she giggled.

She gestured around her:" It was totally worth it, don´t you think? The weather and those cocktails!"

He smiled at her generously, glad to be around her for once in a relaxed surrounding: „Looks like we were left to stay on the beach for the week."

This was a question rather than a statement and secretly he hoped that she would agree to spend time with him.

„Right... one week." she sighed.

„Want a drink at the bar?" he asked, not quite sure if she would push him away or agree to his offer.

„Catherine, it´s not what you think, it's not a date! Please, give me a chance, we have a lot to talk about."

„Well, fine..." she sighed

No matter what had happened between them in the past, Catherine just couldn´t deny the pure physical attraction she felt towards Vincent. He was as strong and muscular as she remembered, she hadn´t expect anything less. Eversince she knew him he had been a very physical person, always in action.

„What can I get you?" the waiter asked

„Soda for me, please!" she answered, and her gaze wandered over to Vincent.

„Get me the same?" he didn´t look at the waiter for a second but observed Catherine closely.

„So, any news about the wedding?" her attempt on small talk, her curiosity beating the embarrassment, the fear of suddently getting too close, becoming too private.

„We... had to postpone the festivities. We´ll get four more months to prepare everything."

The strange sadness in his eyes disturbed her.

„Vincent, why are you going to marry her? That´s crazy!" JT exclaimed surprised.

„You really wanna know? I hoped to get Catherine out of my mind, is that what you want to hear?

„Ohh, man! Will you ever work that out? Seriously, you´ve screwed up with Catherine more times than I can count, Alex, your escapade with Tori, I wonder why she kept taking you back, anyway.

You can´t help it, can you? Things don´t really work out when you two are together but when you are apart, you two feel miserable. Believe me, Tess filled me in on Cat´s feelings.

K, dude, look at me. Do you love Erika? More than Cat?"

He stood tall in front of Vincent, demanding answers but the look on Vincent´s face said more than a thousand words.

„Vincent..." sighed, reassured in his persuasion.

„Remember when you tried to convince me to join `Team Cat` before Muirfield took you?

You are supposed to be brave, do you get it? Get a grip and go back to that old self of you, ok?"

Vincent had just listened to JT´s speech and tried to process the flood of information.

Now the only thing he could get out was something unintelligible, close to „How...? „

JT rose from the couch in searched the table, before he handed Vincent a crinkled piece of paper.

„Tess is so gonna kill me for this! Here is Cat´s adress, in case you wanna talk to her!"

„You´re lucky if you get to tell you the good news before she watches ´Good morning America`" JT mumbled.

„Vincent? So, what do you say!" he didn´t get the question.

„Uhh, sorry. What did you ask?"

„No, it´s ok! It was stupid anyway."

„How have you been? I mean... after we broke up, since... you know?."

He wanted to change the subject, make the conversation about her, not him.

„I've been good but do you really want to discuss this now?" ´fine´wasn´t quite true but the weather was clearly too sunny for those cloudy topics.

„Are you sure that you are ok? You dont look well...!" Catherine didn´t want to talk about the past, and Vincent didn´t look so well either.

„Yeah, uhhm, that´s because I´m not. Look, I´ve kept thinking about the wedding a lot and... It`s just so confusing. I don´t really know if I´m ready to get married." She listened closely but was totally stupefied by now.

Deep inside she knew where this thoughts were coming from: he was supposed to be her future, somewhere on the way Tess and JT had commented, something about „destiny, faith, epic love".

„Vincent, you´ll be a good husband!" she tried to reassure him.

„You will be fine, ok?"

„You know this means a lot to me, don´t you?" he smiled mildly.

This time she smiled like she used to, her typical laugh, crinkled nose and all:" I do! Aaand, in case you have to deal with another attack of serious wedding angst..." she grabbed a pen and wrote her new phone number on a napkin. She had changed it with the intention to leave her old life behind, and because JT wouldn´t stop calling.

„But – I have to go, I left my bag on the chair and I´m supposed to meat up with Noah!"and before she left Vincent standing at the bar she added:"It felt good, you know – talking to you!"

Vincent looked down at the napkin in his hand and shook his head lightly before he cracked a smile. This was a step into the right direction.

**Hey guys, hope you like this chapter. I love him. What do you think of the episode? Do you like the way you act vincent? Please review, I read all your comments. Please review. Thank you so much dear, Thisisjulchen!**


	8. Chapter 8

Why? Why me? - He was wondering.

Several hours had passed since his conversation with Catherine and his mind kept comming back to her over and over again.

Vincent still remembered the moment he kept regretting for the past 5 years, when his beastly istincts had betrayed him.

This would be his first night without Catherine.

Vincent was sitting on the couch, two bottles of wine on the table next to him, one already half emty. – Sometimes people don´t see the good things in their life, only the problems and difficulties, until they mess it all up – and while he was thinking about this eternall theorie he was reminded of the woman who stole his heart and saved him from becoming insane in that dusty warehouse, when his only company had been JT, a friend so close for over a decade.

Suddenly the door of the house boat opened and JT searched the room with his eyes for a second, fixing his gaze on Vincent.

"Hey Dude, it´s bad when you have to drink! What is it?!"

With one swift move that was supposed to go unnoticed by Vincent -which was virtually impossible- he snached the full bottle away and placed it on the ground next to him.

„Give me the bottle! Leave me alone!" a very pissed Vincent grumbled.

When JT didn´t seem to move Vincent looked up and with a bitter look in his eyes started: "I screwed up!"

JT attemted to make a joke but Vincent blurted:"Cat saw me with Mary at the office."

„You cheated on Cat? Because I´m sure, ´see´ doesn´t mean she saw you talking to that girl."

JT shook his head slowly when the look on Vincents face gave him away.

„Oh, man! What were you thinking? You proposed to Catherine a week ago, you love her. You are not even married and you already happen to cheat on her?

What happened to you? You would never have treated her like that before your amnesia!

I hope for you that it only happened once?"

„She kept flirting with me and I did tell her to stay away-" but this time JT interrupted.

„I hope that, judging from the old you this is ´beast-upgrade- related´ but you can´t do that to Catherine, jump every other woman you find attractive."

„I guess I won´t get to figure that out wíth Catherine. She left the ring behind." he pointed at the ring that still rested on the table where she had left it.

„If I were Cat, I would have acted the same way.

She loves you and you break her heart... she had given up so much to be with you! Pretty obvious that this is quite a lot to deal with, this time!" he finished and realized what he had just told his friend, that he didn´t actually believe that Cat would come back this time.

He stepped oun onto the balcony and enjoyd the wind that was still comfortably warm at this date of the year.

JT had always been his anchor, his solid point and even now he had to think about those wise words his best friend had said.

Catherine

She was lying in bed with Noah, awake thinking about the good memories she shared with Vincent, those little details that she loved and while she enjoyed the comfort of the warm bed one specific memory made her smile.

Carefuly she got up, anxious to let Noah sleep, – who had had a long and exhausting day at work – and dressed to go for a walk at the beach.

Tess had helped her to go cold turkey on Vincent after they broke their engagement of, part of it was to delete several fotos of them from her phone, except, Catherine didn´t totally go through with it.

One photo was hidden, not in the gallery but in the folder of old notes between long expired grocerie shopping lists.

„Catherine, you ready? How can a pretty woman like you waste so much time with make- up? He leaned against the doorframe and studied her.

„It´s the rehersal for Heathers wedding. You know she want´s us all to look ´suuuper- pretty´" she said and started to put lipstick on.

„And it takes a woman 20 minutes to colour their lips?" he asked sceptically.

He stepped behind her and showered kisses all over her neck, distracting her.

„I could do it faster...!" he murmured between kisses.

„You should sooo not start wearing lipstick!" she chuckled and looked up into his eyes through the mirror.

„There is always a first time to give it a try."

Now she was curious, turned around and handed him the lipstick dareingly.

He took it, a sceptical look on his face, more like a scientist who was witnessing an interesting experiment and Cat took a step back to let him step in front of the mirror.

„Don´t laugh at me, I do that for you!" he said when she couldn´t surpress a laugher.

„as a challenge!"

When he had finished after not more then 30 seconds, he turned around, smacked his lips and now she couldn´t hold back from laughing anymore.

Quickly she grabbed her phone for a snapshot with him.

„Hey, delete those pictures. I don´t like it when people have ´blackmailing- worthy pictures´ about me on their phones Not even my girlfriend!" he protested but when he saw how happy she was he picked her up and sat down with her on his lap onto the floor.

He grabbed a towel and got rid of the color on his lips.

„No..." she pouted and kissed him hard.

But soon she didn´t care anymore when his hands opened her robe to let it slide down her body and pool around them on the floor.

Catherine's thoughts snapped back to reality when a wave of cold ocean- water washed over her feet.

Hey guys ! I feel a lot for taking so long to upload the chapter. I have been overseas exchange and have had some relationship problems, but now I'm here and very happy. Hope you like the chapter. Please review.


	9. Chapter 9

Silent Years

Chatper 9

Catherine walked on the beach and the full moon lit up her face. She looked up and saw a shadow that gradually got closer to e didn´t expect to meet anyone at that time of the night but when she saw who it was, she smiled. She smiled like a teenager in love and that was exactly how she felt in that moment.

Vincent had wanted to clear his mind and reorganize his feelings – he had feelings for Erika .. but they were nothing compared to what he felt for Catherine - he loved her.

He thought that letting Catherine go had been the biggest mistake of his life but he felt like now he was making an even bigger one: marrying Erika.

Catherines skin was glowing under the light of the moon and she looked beautiful in the white summer dress she wore.

He smiled at her:" Hey, what are you doing out here, alone?" He couldn´t help a nervous chuckle. They were facing each other and Vincent could easily listen to the pounding of Catherines heart.

"I needed time to think and you know how often a New Yorker gets to see the ocean"

Catherine continued to walk through the sand, that was still warm from the previous day and Vincent followed quietly. At some point their hands would involuntarily touch lightly but neither of them minded or said something about it.

„How about you?" - she asked. They walked at the same pace and while Catherine looked ahead, Vincent watched the waves where a light breeze played with the water.

"I couldn´t sleep, wanted to go for a walk "- he answered quietly.

Catherine noted that something was wrong, she needed to know if she could do something to help him.

"Penny for your thoughts?" - She asked.

Suddently he stoped dead in his tracks and sat down – Catherine imitated his movements but decidet to stay silent to give him the time he needed.

"I feel a little weird lately..." - he said.

"Something about ... the beast?"

"No, I'm just worried about JT" – Not what he actually wanted to say – he covered his face with his hands for seconds and then in a sudden movement looked at her:" Look, I lied, OK? I can´t do this anymore Catherine. I do still have feelings for you and I don´t want to have to lie about it anymore.

I thought they would fade away but – they don´t!"

Catherine was shocked and couldn´t think of an appropriarte reaction, all she could do was stare at him and listen to her own heartbeat that sounded louder than ever before in her ears.

She wanted to kiss him, tell him she loved him but that was her old self. The new Catherine was much stronger.

"Vincent, please! We, our relationship is in the past and we should leave it there. We have moved on, Vincent, you have moved on!" She said but her gaze shifted from his eyes to his lips and back.

"Catherine ..." - he sighed, regretted that he had told her how he felt for her.

„I know that I betrayed you a lot and maybe if I hadn´t, we would be the ones to marry, but now – "

„Now nothing, Vincent! I don´t love you, not anymore. When you broke my heart... I never thought I would ever let anyone in anymore and the one time I do ..." her voice faded away into the darkness.

"I know and I understand that, but – " he was going to say it, tell her what she ment to him – I love you –

„But what, Vincent" She got frustrated. She was trying so hard to push him away, to save her relationship with Noah, to save herself from him and he was just not getting it.

„You love me? After six years without a single phone call, a single meeting, you´re gonna say you love me?

No, Vincent, you are engaged and I am happy with Noah! You better go now"

She stood up quickly before he could:„Good night, Vincent."

Vincent was angry with himself, for telling her, for letting her go again.

He hated that he couldn´t move on from Catherine, not even after all those years, and that he

couldn´t give Erika a chance.

"Why?" - He said out loud, nearly screamed it into the clear air that now suddently felt chilly, uncomfortable.

Catherine opened the door of her room and saw Noah sleeping, like she had expected.

Carefully she opened the door to the balcony and sat down.

She missed the noises of New York, here it was just too quiet to think.

Quiet tears streamed down her face and she didn´t bother to wipe them away.

She hated everything about this situation, her situation.

How she had to lie to Noah about Vincent, to Vincent about Noah and most importantly that Vincent was ripping those scars open again, rubbing salt into them.

Slowly she fell asleep in the beach chair and she couldn´t do anything to prevent this form reminding her of the time with Vincent when being with him had made her feel good.

He woke up and found her close to him.

The first thing he heard was the alarm clock on her side of the bed and no matter how much he loved to watch her sleep, the noise was unnerving.

Carefully he reached over her and turned the alarm off before he tenderly kissed her cheek once, twice, until she slowly murmered his name and turned in his arms.

"Happy anniversary" – he whispered. She had opened her eyes now and looked up at him.

He smiled before he leaned down to kiss her.

That day had always been special to them, she had lost her mother but also met the love of her live on that very day, who made her forget about the tragedy that was her past.

„Happy anniversary" – she answered.

She snuggled closer into his armes and laid down her head onto his chest. Listening to his heartbeat calmed her down although she couldn´t listen to his as easily as he listened to hers. But just being so close to him made her smile of happiness.

„I love you!" she whispered and he didn´t need her to say it again to understaind exactly what she meant.

Hi guys. I'm sorry for my tardiness. I'm sorry. A lot has happened in my life ... and I have not had time. I hope you like the chapter and please review.


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